1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system for collecting electrical energy from lightning in the surrounding atmosphere and channeling such electrical energy to a storage facility formed of a superconductive material coil of sufficient size, dimension and structural adaptation to store significantly large amounts of electrical energy to be used in a practical sense and wherein such stored electrical energy can be released on demand from the storage coil and used for practical application as desired and needed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For years man has been attempting to find an effective and inexpensive source of energy which is capable of operating the various energy consuming facilities associated with modern day living, commerce and technology. A prime factor in utilizing energy sources is the protection of the environment through the use of non-polluting energy sources. Nuclear fuel, while gaining increasing acceptance in past years, is currently looked upon as somewhat of a dangerous form of electrical energy due to a recent major accident involving a nuclear generating plant and the common occurrence of plant breakdown and possible leakage of toxins into the surrounding environment.
Man has long acknowledged however the unlimited source of electrical energy which occurs during the creation of Lightning during storms and like or similar atmospheric conditions. Attempts have been made to harness such electrical energy as evidenced by the early 1900, U.S. Pat. Nos. to Pennock, 911,260 and 1,014,719. The Pennock patents are directed to facilities for collecting energy from lightning and transferring such energies to some type of storage facility which is referred to in U.S. Pat. No. 911,260 as storage battery structures. The collection facility in this patent relates to metal conductive material spheres interconnected and/or supported in an upwardly suspended position by one or more lighter than air structures, such as balloons. A conventional conductor of metallic materials serves to define a flow path of electrical energy from the collecting facility down to the storage battery.
Similarly Pennock discloses in his U.S. Pat. No. 1,014,719 a plurality of balloons which may be elongated metallic structures filled with some type of lighter than air gas used to support an electrical grid or the like. Further the conductors utilized in this disclosure are designed to transfer the collected electrical energy to some type of collection or storage facility.
The patent to Arreola, U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,061 is directed to a windmill structure rather than any type of facility that is specifically adapted to collect energy from a lightning source. A generator or some type of electrical energy creating device is driven by the windmill type device shown in certain drawings of this patent. Storage facilities such as battery packs are the initial and preferred embodiment for storing electricity in this invention. However, the inventor does specifically mention that the use of superconductivity for maximum generation of electricity and magnetic shielding is also contemplated.
An additional U.S. Patent to Higashino, U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,014 discloses the use of a superconductive storage apparatus for electrical power. In FIG. 1 of this patent the conventional and or known prior art device is depicted in FIG. 2, by comparison, this patent shows an improvement over the known prior art which is depicted and explained. It is important to note that in the recognized prior art system of FIG. 1 and in the so called improved system of FIG. 2 both systems are connected to what may be generally referred to as a conventional A.C. power source which is interpreted as being a power company or like conventional electrical energy generating facility. Both structures are particularly adapted for the initial storage of electrical energy during "low demand" periods and the return of the stored electrical energy to the system schematically indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of this patent once demand increases. It is specifically stated in both systems that the storage facility may be defined by a superconductive structure which is connected to some type of conversion unit wherein the initially supplied electrical energy is an A.C. form and then converted to D.C. form for storage. The patent to a large extent concentrates on the conversion unit per se and means of controlling the flow of electrical energy for purposes of storage and/or resupplying it to the system.
Similarly the patent to Peterson et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,512 discloses a superconductive energy storage facility for power systems. This patent emphasizes that while the storage facility is a superconductive magnet with an auxiliary refrigeration system used in combination therewith to prevent overheating, the initial energy source is a conventional alternating current power system connected to the superconductive magnet. The energy is stored in the magnetic field which is produced by the superconductive magnet. The magnetic energy can be converted into electrical energy and returned to the power system as needed. There is no suggestion of combining the superconductive coil with a collection facility which is specifically adapted to trap, transport and control the energy from a lightning source. More importantly this patent as well as the remaining patents cited herein detail no specific description of a superconductive coil which is large enough to be mounted in a ground supporting area at least the size of a standard football field so that significant quantities of energy can be stored and used as desired and wherein such electrical energy is specifically captured from the atmosphere through the attraction of lightning during conducive atmospheric conditions. With regard to the Pennock patents the use of superconductive materials in practical application to store large amounts of energy was not contemplated or certainly developed to the standpoint of practicality or efficiency. Therefore there would be no suggestion of utilizing superconductive material in the collection facilities of Pennock since they were developed in the early 1900's.